There’s a quiet confidence about Hasan Mahbub – the kind that comes from a career built one hard-earned shift at a time. Today, he oversees the beverage program across some of Sydney’s most acclaimed venues within the House Made Hospitality Group, such as Apollonia, Grana, Lana, Martinez, This Way Canteen and more. But the story of how he got here is far from ordinary.
It begins in Bangladesh, where Hasan was studying engineering. “I wanted to be financially independent,” he recalls. “So, when I moved to Malaysia about 14 years ago, I got a part-time job at a Spanish restaurant. I had no experience – I started as a food runner.”
From the corner of the bar, he’d watch the bartenders work – the rhythm, the noise, the chemistry of it all. “One day I got into a debate about how to make a Mojito,” he laughs. “The manager overheard and said, ‘You think you can do better? Start bar backing.’”
The reality wasn’t glamorous. “For ten hours, I just cleaned glasses,” he says. “But I liked the energy – the pulse of hospitality.”
A few months later, fate intervened. Two friends – George and a chef from Asturias in northern Spain – were opening a new restaurant and asked him to join. “That’s where I really started learning,” Mahbub says. “I became this sort of student manager, but I realised all I was making were gin and tonics. I wanted more.”
He dropped out of university and took a pay cut to join a new bar called Case Study, run by two bartenders, Joel and Alvin, both of whom had worked in Australia and Singapore. “I thought it would be a technical interview about cocktails, but they just talked about life, it was nothing like I thought it would be,” he says. “I knew straight away that’s where I wanted to be.”
The work was intense, long prep days filled with infusions, clarifications and creative trials that were years ahead of their time. “We prepped from ten to six, showered in the bathroom, and opened the bar,” he says. “It was exhausting, but it built everything I know.”
“Every job I’ve taken, I’ve made sure I’m the dumbest person in the room, that’s how you learn.”
From there, Hasan moved into management and consultancy, opening bars, training teams, and working with chefs and designers to build venues from the ground up. One of his most formative stints was at Kuala Lumpur’s iconic PS150 – a hidden cocktail bar tucked behind a toy store in Chinatown. “I’d been trying to get in there for three years,” he says. “It wasn’t about fancy drinks – it was about genuine hospitality. That’s where I really understood what makes a bar timeless.”
When the pandemic hit, everything changed. “I lost my job and everything I’d built, but my partner supported me so I could finish my degree. It was a reset.”
After Malaysia reopened, he reconnected with the team behind Case Study, helping open Reka, which went on to be named in Asia’s Top 50 Bars. The bar’s brand connections and success led to new opportunities – including a call from Proof Creative’s Jason Williams. “Jason offered me two jobs – one in Singapore, one in Macau – but I’d already done that region,” he says. “Then he mentioned a role in Australia. That’s how Apollonia happened.”
Hasan moved to Sydney three years ago, starting as Assistant Bar Manager before becoming Bar Manager, and now oversees the beverage programs across the group’s venues.
“It’s a lot of work,” he says, smiling. “But I love it here. Australia strikes the perfect balance – you’re valued for what you do, and there’s still room to grow without burning out.”
As for the dream of owning his own place? “One day, yes – but not a cocktail bar. I’d build something bigger, something that lasts. Hospitality shouldn’t just be creative – it should be sustainable.”
When asked his favourite drink, the answer comes quickly: Paloma. “It means ‘dove’,” he says. “To me, that’s freedom – the ability to move, explore, keep flying. That’s been my whole journey.”